Chicken Coops for Sale in Forman, North Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Forman, North Dakota
Our Finished Chicken Coop
These past few days had us outside enjoying the beautiful weather. One of the jobs I crossed off the list was to clean out our new chicken coop.
Because of our over the past year or so, our family was going through several dozen eggs a week. (I can’t help it – I’m hooked on !)
So last summer we quit “planning” to get our own chickens, and actually did it. The whole family pitched in to build a little abode for our egg-laying beauties. And because we were first-time chicken owners and newbies in all chicken-related topics, we joined and gleaned months worth of ideas, do’s and don’ts, and building plans. (I can’t recommend this site highly enough! If you have the slightest inclination of doing chicken anything, go here and read to your heart’s content.)
It was so helpful to see photos and designs when we were in the planning stages, I thought I’d share pictures of our coop and the hows and whys of what we did.
The chicken coop
Instead of starting from scratch, we bought a small granary from my brother-in-law; about 9’x7′ inside measurements. This gave us about 3 sq. ft. per bird. The coop is nothing fancy really. It isn’t visible from the road and we don’t live in town with neighbors to care about the view from their back window, so we used as much scrap material as possible. Plus we didn’t think the chickens would mind.
So far they haven’t rebelled.
We re-tinned the roof (that’s my honey!) and I got to use the saw sawl to make holes for the windows and vents. You can call me Mrs. Handyman. . .
Inside the chicken coop
Framing the windows and vents was the most time consuming part since the building wasn’t square. We used insulation and vapor barrier for the walls for added moisture protection and warmth because the windchill can get -40 below or more in the winter.
We made the roosting boards parallel and the same height because apparently hens will act like old biddies and fight for the top most board. (Some people’s kids. . .)
We rounded the edges of the roosting boards so it’s easier on the hens’ feet. The boards can be removed for ease of cleaning the poop boards underneath.
Poop boards seemed quite popular among chicken peoples and we’ve quickly learned why. First, chickens poop more when roosting, so the roosting boards are placed above the poop board. This makes clean up as simple as buying a wide sheetrock mudding tool and scraping the droppings into a bucket each day. We then add the droppings to our compost pile.
We originally built a rollaway community nesting box directly underneath the poop board, but the chickens ended up laying eggs everywhere but there. Eventually we added a ‘normal’ set of 12″x12″x12″ nesting boxes and they’re happy campers again.
We decided to use the deep litter method. We spread a bag of wood chips on the floor and because the hens leave most of their droppings on the poop boards, there’s minimal waste on the floor. The chickens like to scratch and fluff the wood chips so it gets stirred up and aerated. This means the coop is less smelly, and there’s only a few minutes of daily cleaning of the boards. If needed, you can add more wood chips throughout the year.
We clean the coop out fully in the spring and fall. So far it’s worked wonderfully.
We nailed a board across the doorway to prevent the rising litter from falling out every time we opened the door.
The feeders are gravity fed. They’re made of PVC pipe with a 90 degree corner and a cap at the end. We like that we can leave for several days at a time and don’t have to worry about having someone come out to do chicken chores for us.
This water stand was Travis’s idea. The hens have a platform to stand on so no matter how high the litter gets, they can reach the water comfortably.
The chicken nipples underneath are another idea shared by BYC that I LOVE. The water doesn’t drip, there is no poop or mud to worry about, and our full grown hens figured it out within 24 hrs. The pails are covered with lids to prevent the water from getting dirty and it lasts for at least a week (we add apple cider vinegar).
When we’re home, we clean them out and give them fresh water every few days.
There’s electricity on the wall above the waterers with a timed light switch. We use bird bath heaters to keep the water from freezing during the winter. We had to add the slanted plywood because the hens were roosting on the pails. (I told you they fought for highest roosting privileges.)
The pop door is a simple design, and it works great. It slides up and down, held in by L shaped boards.
When in the closed position, the hook and eye on the right prevent racoons (or children!) from trying to lift the door from the outside.
We used 1/2″ x 1/2″ hardware cloth to cover the insides of the windows and vents. . .
. . .and plexiglass for the actual windows.
We made sure to have plenty of vents (thanks to sage advice from Pat’s Ventilation Page) and used eyes and rope to open and close them at different heights.
Finally, we added a small lean-to to the side so the hens could come out in the winter. This helps block snow drifts right in front of the pop door, and they can still come out for fresh air and sunshine when they get cabin fever.
It might not win a beauty contest – but there’s something to be said for function-ability Hope this gave you some ideas!
What have you done to your chicken coop? We’d love to hear your ideas and suggestions!
shared with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Related Posts
Latest posts by Paula ()
- - March 22, 2016
- - January 28, 2016
- - January 22, 2016
Chicken Coop in Forman, North Dakota
A good place to start any search is the internet. Simply plugging in the phrase "chicken coops for sale in Forman North Dakota" into any one of the numerous search engines and a wealth of information will pop up. This information will provide links to other websites that will be informative and will provide the right direction for finding Forman North Dakota chicken coops. What to look for when buying a chicken coop in Forman, North Dakota With the substantial increase in chicken keeping there has been a similarly big increase in the array of chicken materiel on sale. Poultry housing is a situation in factor. It's also a timeless instance of the great old bandwagon being jumped on as numerous would-be fowl real estate experts pitch a variety of lodging claiming to be the optimal option to your chicken real estate demands. Often the price looks appealing, the house looks appealing, hell even the clean-cut household standing there feeding the chickens look attractive. Undoubtedly they recognize a high quality chicken house when they see one? There are many cheap as well as nasty coops flooding the market. I know this as I've examined a number of them in the area, as well as seen a ewe run straight with one when the feed bucket appeared. The outcome was just a costly pile of firewood and also a little flock of bemused as well as currently homeless bantams.
Baby Chicks in Forman, North Dakota
Generally these standardized versions are created of rapid grown lumber - come the first drop of rain they swell, leaving you either fortifying a doorway that won't shut, or ripping the doorway furniture off in a vain effort to release the squawking occupants. The initial warm day suggests the timber dries out and also cracks, the really felt roofing system bubbles and also boils, as well as come nightfall the chickens refuse to enter. This is not because of their disappointment at the decrease of their as soon as eye-catching property yet due to the fact that the hovel is now a place for, and also probably abounding, the chicken caretaker's bane, red mite. Add that it stated on the blurb that it would match 4 big hens when that equipping density was based upon the Circle Line at 5pm on a Friday, and what are you entrusted? A couple of hinges as well as some kindling. A decent coop for thee to 4 birds ought to cost you approximately ₤ 300 though this could rely on whether you choose for a free standing house or one with a run attached. Presuming you are ranging your birds in a huge space as well as the pop hole doorway allows sufficient for the breed you keep, then the main needs of real estate boil down to three factors which will define the variety of birds your home will hold; perches, nest boxes and also air flow. A lot of breeds of chicken will perch when they visit roost in the evening, this perch needs to preferably be 5-8cm broad with smoothed off edges so the foot rests easily on it. The perch needs to be more than the nest box entry as chickens will certainly additionally naturally try to find the acme to perch. A perch below that will have the birds roosting in the nest box overnight (which is by the way when they produce the most poo) leading to soiled eggs the list below day. They should not nonetheless be so high off the flooring of your home that leg injuries can occur when the bird gets down in the morning. Chickens require regarding 20cm of perch each (in small breeds this is undoubtedly less), plus if greater than one perch is installed in your home they should be greater than 30cm apart. They will hunker up with their neighbors however are not that keen on roosting with a beak in the bloomers of the bird ahead. Preferably the house should have a least one nest box for every single three birds and also these must be off the ground and also in the darkest area of your home. Your home ought to have sufficient air flow: without it after that condensation will certainly accumulate every evening, also in the chilliest of climate. Understand, air flow works on the concept of warm air leaving via a high void attracting cooler air in from a reduced void - it's not a set of openings on opposite walls of the house and at the exact same degree, this is exactly what's known as a draft. If you have a house with a run attached then the factors above are still true, yet you ought to also consider the run size. The EU optimum lawful equipping thickness for a complimentary variety bird is (as well as allow's face it, among the motivations for maintaining some hens in your home is possibly improved or much better welfare) 2,500 birds per hectare, that's optimal one bird per 4m settled. Take a close take a look at several of the deal homes - it could well be your house has the ideal perches, appropriate ventilation as well as enough nest boxes for a practical number of birds, but will each of the chickens have anything greater than an A4 sized piece of ground to spend the day on? And so as the stating goes, "you get what you pay for". You might believe you've grabbed a deal, however you as well as your flock could rue the day you did. Purchase the best house and it will certainly last for a couple of years, if not longer provided the correct treatment. Eventually your chicken and your fowl maintaining experience will be considerably the far better for it.diy coop
More Posts
Chicken Coops for Sale in Aneta, North Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Fairmount, North Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Ellendale, North Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Antler, North Dakota
Chicken Coops for Sale in Argusville, North Dakota